


According To Plan

by callmechristinae



Series: Livejournal Migration [9]
Category: Rent - Larson
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-02-13
Updated: 2006-02-13
Packaged: 2017-12-26 21:37:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/970556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callmechristinae/pseuds/callmechristinae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roger’s plans don’t always exactly work out, but that’s not a bad thing</p>
            </blockquote>





	According To Plan

“Hey, Mark…do you know what day it is?” Roger asked with a grin, dropping down on the well worn couch next to his roommate.

“Yeah, February 14th. Your point being what?” Mark responded with a wide innocent smile, glancing up from his book.

“C’mon babe, think!” Roger’s grin had grown wider as he pulled Mark close to him. The filmmaker just shrugged his shoulders, hiding his grin in Roger’s neck. “It’s Valentine’s Day! But what are we going to do?”

“We really don’t have to do anything Roger,” Mark soothed, placing a gentle hand on the songwriter’s knee. “I’m not some crazed demanding high maintenance bitch.”

“Yeah, but…” Roger protested. This wasn’t going the way it was supposed to. He had been planning for their first Valentine’s Day for weeks, and it had been hard. They had already exchanged simple gold rings, taking away the easy option of jewelry. He had come up with the perfect idea, and here Mark was saying that they didn’t need it. Whenever Roger had a girlfriend, Valentine’s Day consisted of demands for the day to be romantic and special. For once, he had planned ahead of time and, of course, this had to be the time the person he was with said that he didn’t have to.

“Besides, we don’t have any money,” Mark added with a smile before getting up and making his way over to the kitchen area of the loft.

Roger sighed, fingering the money in his pocket. He was planning on telling Mark about that too.

“Besides, we’ve got the party tonight over at Maureen and Joanne’s. That’ll be nice, I’m sure. Maureen says that she’s got a surprise…” Mark continued, getting reading to make some tea. He started when he felt Roger’s hands resting on his hips.

“But, I’ve got a surprise for you,” Roger whispered, nibbling lightly on Mark’s ear.

“You do, do you?” Mark chuckled, his hands trembling slightly

“Yeah, but you’ve got to  _trust_  me.” Roger smiled, now that his plans were back on track.

“Don’t I always?” Mark responded with a cautious grin. He made a grunt of surprise when Roger pulled the just filled mug from his hands and dumped his freshly prepared tea in the sink. Before he could say anything, Roger was pulling him into the bedroom and throwing clothes  _at_  him. Well, that was a new one.

“C’mon, get ready. We’ve got a bit of a walk ahead of us,” Roger explained, pulling on his leather jacket and a simple black scarf. Running a hand through his hair, he turned around to see Mark winding his navy and white scarf around his neck, his new khaki jacket already on. He quickly grabbed a hold of Mark’s hand and pulled him quickly through and out of the loft, pausing only to lock the door.

The two young Bohemians made their way down the street, Mark struggling to keep up with Roger’s much longer strides. The songwriter slowed down a bit to avoid the patches of snow that had not yet been swept away, giving Mark the opportunity to walk next to him. Roger smiled at the filmmaker’s flushed face, leaning over to kiss one of his cold cheeks. The two made their way down the street at a calmer pace as Mark looked around him, trying to figure out where they were heading.

“We aren’t going ice skating, are we?” Mark asked cautiously, gripping Roger’s hand tightly as they turned the corner.

“Don’t worry Mark, you’ll like this,” Roger assured, a light spring appearing in his step as he neared their destination. He kept glancing back at the confused filmmaker, grinning like a kid on Christmas morning.

“We still have to go to Maureen and Joanne’s party tonight,” Mark reminded, having given up on trying to figure out where they were going.

“Yeah, the public lesbian make-out session. I remember,” the songwriter responded distractedly, seeing their goal getting closer.

“Roger!”

“What? You know how Maureen is on holidays she has an excuse to ‘show affection,’” Roger scoffed, rolling his eyes and sighing.

“Yeah, at least, when she’s with other people,” the filmmaker muttered, looking down at the sidewalk.

“Aw, she didn’t show Marky the love?” Roger teased, stepping in front of the filmmaker.

Mark was about to respond with an incredibly witty comment when he slammed into Roger’s back. Regaining his wits, he looked around, taking in the brightly decorated shops and the families milling around them.

“Build a Bear?” Mark asked, an eyebrow raised and mirth sparkling in his eyes. So this was what Roger had been so excited about. He chuckled as Roger bounced ahead of him, pulling him into the store.

“Yeah, well, I always felt kinda guilty for, you know, when you first moved into the loft, for tearing your little teddy bear…” Roger began, grinning sheepishly.

“YOU killed Quentin!?” Mark clasped his heart in shock.

“You’re missing the point baby,” Roger sighed, turning to place a gentle kiss on Mark’s lips before returning his attention to the frighteningly empty stuffed animal bodies. “I always felt guilty about it, so, I thought, for Valentine’s Day, I’d be all dorky and romantic and get you a new one.”

“Gosh, Roger. That’s, like, really sweet and considerate.”

“I know!” Roger shouted, his grin spread wide across his face.

“But, where did you get the money?”

“Well, you see, that’s the other surprise,” Roger drawled out, turning to face Mark. He wrapped his arms loosely around his boyfriend’s hips and took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. His eyes opened when he felt Mark’s gentle hand on his cheek. He smiled, leaning in to whisper, “I got signed.”

“What!?” Mark gasped, placing both hands on the sides of Roger’s face.

“The rep for this record label heard us perform at the Pyramid Club the other night. He really like us and signed us right there!” Roger explained. He was startled by the high pitched joyful sound that escaped Mark’s throat, as well as the tight hug that accompanied it. He lifted the filmmaker up, smiling into the arms wrapped around his neck.

“Roger! That’s amazing!” Mark shouted, finally making contact with the ground once again.

“I know! I’ve been just dying to tell you, but I wanted to wait for the perfect time, but then you were going on about how we didn’t need to do anything today, which would really have sucked because I already had all this planned out…”

“Roger.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re babbling again,” the filmmaker teased, pressing a finger to Roger’s lips

“Oh, sorry.” Roger kissed the finger lightly, tightening his arms around the smaller Bohemian..

“It’s okay. You’re cute when you’re flustered.”

Roger blushed, wrapping his arms around Mark and stealing a quick kiss. He glanced down at the little boy who was standing next to him, staring up with wide eyes. Mark chuckled as the little boy ran off, having lost the staring contest decidedly. He pulled out of the rocker’s arms, reaching into one of the bins. “I’ll think I’ll make this one.”

_Half an hour later…_

The two artists made their way out of the store, Mark carrying a classic brown teddy bear with some not so classic clothes. Just like its owner, it wore thick black glasses and, like the man who had paid for it, it wore a simple black leather (or, in this case, fake leather) jacket. It also wore some plaid pants with rather muted colors, a plain white knit cap, some plain looking sneakers, and a shirt advertising  _West Side Story_.

“What did you name it again?” Roger asked, his arm slung casually over Mark’s shoulders. He reached across the filmmaker’s chest to gently push up the glasses that were falling down the bear’s nose.

“Jonathan,” the filmmaker replied casually, straightening the bear’s clothes.

“Why did you name him that?”

“I don’t know,” Mark shrugged, “it just seemed to fit.”

“Oh, you didn’t want to name it Roger?”

“Now, it’s too cute for a name like that.”

Roger tickled Mark’s side lightly, smiling at the squirming that ensued. “You’re right, Roger is too sexy a name for a little teddy bear.”

Mark let out a very undignified snort. “Fine, go ahead and enjoy your delusions.”

“Um, Mark?”

“Yeah?” Mark responded, confused at the serious turn the conversation had taken.

“About tonight…”

“We’ve got to go Rog. I already told Maureen that we were coming. I know that you’d rather stay home and do…stuff, but we’ve gotta be there in an hour…”

“That’s not what I meant,” Roger sighed, stopping Mark and turning the filmmaker to face him.

“Oh. What’s wrong?” Mark’s chest began to clench up in fear, worry over what the songwriter was going to say flooding over all his other senses.

“Are we going to, um, tell everyone about us?”

Mark sighed in relief, all the other frightening scenarios that had begun to capture his imagination instantly dissipating. “Oh. Do you want to?”

“I’m not sure…” Roger looked into Mark’s eyes, trying to gauge his roommates feelings on the subject. He sighed when he saw only love and sympathy staring back at him.

“Well, once we tell them, we can’t take it back.”

“Yeah, how about we just wait a bit. You know, feel it out and see how it goes.”

The filmmaker shrugged casually. “Sure, whatever you want.”

“You’re okay with this, right?” Roger slipped his arms around Mark, looking deep into his eyes for what seemed like the millionth time that day.

Mark just smiled up at him. “Yeah, I’ll be ready when you are.”

_Two hours later…_

Roger appeared to be relaxed on the couch, a much nicer one than the one they had back at the loft. His legs had been resting atop the coffee table until Joanne had shot a rather evil glare his way. He had forgotten how defensive the lawyer was over her furniture. His arm was draped casually over the back, but he was very careful not to make any contact with his roommate.

Several people were bustling about the cozy apartment, Joanne playing the perfect hostess. Paper heart chains hung from every wall, red Christmas lights accompanying them. Large posters of creatively designed hearts were plastered all around the apartment. Cheesy love music played lightly in the background while a few rather inebriated members of Life Support attempted to croon along. 

Mark sipped at his water lightly, glancing over at Roger every few minutes before finally getting up and making his way over to where the food was set up. Roger’s arm dropped back to his side. Keeping his hands off of Mark was getting harder and harder as the night went on.

Roger looked up as Collins sat down next to him, a beer dangling loosely from his hand. “You okay Roger?” the professor asked, his head tilting to the side slightly as he took a sip from his drink.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Roger chuckled nervously, glancing over to where Maureen and Mark were talking. Collins followed his gaze, the suspicion evident in his eyes.

“Cause Mimi is off with her new boyfriend somewhere and you’re alone here surrounded by happy couples?”

Roger snorted. Now that he thought about it, Mimi hadn’t crossed his mind once the entire day. When they had broken up, he had dreaded how each holiday would be without her. They had fallen into such a nice routine, always able to depend on each other as a date to the various holiday parties they would be invited to. But, now, Roger actually looked forward to the holidays, and every regular day for that matter. His entire day had been completely absorbed with Mark. Roger had never wanted to make Valentine’s Day so special for someone, and that someone was growing increasingly animated talking with his ex-girlfriend. “You’re not with anybody.”

“Hey, we’re teasing you now, remember?” Collins shot back, watching Roger watch Mark. His grin widened as realization dawned. “Then again, you aren’t really alone…are you?”

The songwriter’s head snapped around quickly, his eyes focusing on those of the anarchist. Collins’ smiled widely, his suspicions confirmed. He began to laugh heartily as Roger looked about frantically.

“Just, don’t tell anyone yet, okay. We’re taking this kinda slow and I don’t think I’m ready for everyone to know that he and I…”

“You and who are doing what? I don’t know what you could possibly be talking about,” Collins teased, faking complete confusion.

“Thanks,” Roger sighed, his gaze once again returning to the filmmaker and the drama queen. Both men on the sofa heard the rapidly raising voices from across the room, and Roger stood quickly and made his way over to them as Mark’s shout made its way clearly across the small apartment.

“Maureen, if you try to set me up with one more of your friends who is trying to figure out if they  _really_  are a lesbian or if it’s just a phase, I swear, I will never help you set up for a performance again!”

“But Marky!” Maureen whined, her foot stomping on the wood flooring.

“I said NO! What makes you think I need any help getting a date?” Mark flung his arms out for emphasis, jumping slightly when his left arm was caught in a gentle grip.

“What’s going on over here?” Roger asked, releasing his grip on the filmmaker’s arm.

Mark smiled in relief as Roger stepped in between the two bickering friends. “Maureen thinks that there’s this waitress at the Life who is just  _perfect_  for me,” the filmmaker mocked, matching Maureen’s glare.

“But she is, and she hasn’t even thought about being a lesbian! C’mon, just meet her,” Maureen pleaded, turning the puppy dog eyes on full force.

“NO!” Mark shouted. Those around them were starting to take notice of the storm brewing in the kitchen.

“But…”

“He said no Maureen! Fuck…can’t you just mind your own goddamn business for once!” Roger shouted, surprising all those gathered around them. Joanne made her way over to the trio, Collins following close behind. She encouraged people to get back to whatever they were doing along the way, assuring them that everything was fine.

“What’s going on Maureen?” Joanne asked, resting a hand softly on the small of Maureen’s back.

“Pookie! I’m just trying to help! I don’t want Mark to be lonely and stuck with Roger on Valentine’s Day. He needs to get over me sometime!” Maureen whined, pouting and ignoring the angry look on Roger’s face.

Collins began to laugh, causing the two girls the look up. Maureen’s confusion was clearly evident, but Joanne made the connection immediately as she looked over towards the songwriter. Roger had silently taken Mark’s left hand in his right, rubbing the back of his hand with his thumb. She smiled, turning back to Maureen quickly. She couldn’t wait for her reaction.

“What makes you think Mark doesn’t want to be ‘stuck with Roger,’” Collins asked through his laughter before moving away to get some food. Maureen was evidently confused, and looked to her ex-boyfriend for an explanation, and she saw it suddenly, clear as day.

Mark stood silently, fiddling with the simple gold ring on the ring finger of his right hand. He was leaning in to the rocker’s side, keeping his eyes on his hand. Roger continued to lightly stroke the hand in his, gazing at his roommate with his eyes filled with love. Maureen’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she looked back and forth between the rocker and the filmmaker.

“Close your mouth Maureen, we don’t want any flies going in,” Joanne sighed, smiling and gently taking Maureen’s hand in her own.

“But, but, but…” Maureen stuttered before quickly rushing off down the hall. Mark looked up at Maureen’s departure, smiling softly at Joanne as a blush crept its way up his face.

“Don’t worry. She’s just a little embarrassed. I’ll have to go comfort her,” Joanne said with a smirk, following her lover.

The two watched the lawyer as she made her way through the happy guests. “Well, I guess we don’t have to tell anyone now,” Roger joked nervously, pulling his hand out of Mark’s to wrap his arms around the filmmaker’s waist. Mark reached up to wrap his arms around the songwriter’s neck, playing softly with the golden locks. The world hadn’t shattered, and the party had barely been disrupted. They look into each other’s eyes, judging how the other felt about their relationship finally being out in the open.

Mark was pleased to see a nervous satisfaction in his love’s eyes, any fears he had had quickly vanishing. The filmmaker leaned up to whisper, “Happy Valentine’s Day,” before capturing Roger’s lips in a sweet gentle kiss.


End file.
